The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oregon head coach Chip Kelly are involved in active contract discussions and Tampa Bay has identified Kelly as the main target for its head coaching vacancy, according to a source close to Kelly.

Kelly interviewed with the Buccaneers last week and the two sides are aiming to work out a deal within the next 48 hours, according to the source.

The Bucs will resolve talks with Kelly either way before proceeding further with their search, the source said.

A source told KGW in Portland that Kelly is close to a deal with Tampa Bay.

Exact opposite. I do NOT want Chip to leave Oregon and take the Bucs head coaching gig. NOOOOO!!!!!!

College coaches never make good NFL head coaches. Stay in Eugene! The Bucs already suck. At least with the Bucs sucking, I can fall back on Oregon being a power in college football with Chip at the helm. But if he goes to Tampa and fails, then that leaves BOTH of my teams being sorry. :(

Good, I was getting afraid they might go after Chris Petersen, which is maybe the only other job I could see him leaving Boise State for.

I have complete confidence in saying Petersen will be at Boise as long as they'll have him (which is obviously forever). The situation with his disabled daughter and the Petersons' comfort there with her caregivers trumps all. And it's not like he's getting paid chump change.

Oregon coach Chip Kelly has decided not to take an offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to fill their head-coaching vacancy, Tampa Bay's general manager said.

"His heart is with college football and Oregon and he's no longer being considered,'' Mark Dominik said Monday, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Kelly and the Bucs had been deep in the process of finishing a deal Sunday night.

Kelly, who interviewed with the Buccaneers last week, had been intrigued by the challenge of coaching at the highest level and not having to deal with parents and the NCAA oversights that are inherent to coaching in college, a source told ESPN's Joe Schad.

While former USC coach Pete Carroll left the Trojans to coach the Seattle Seahawks in January 2010 shortly before an NCAA report for sanctions under Carroll's watch, the source told Schad that Kelly and Oregon were not anticipating heavy sanctions from the NCAA's inquiry into the school's relationship with alleged street agent Willie Lyles.

I just hope we don't end up with Sherman or Childress. I love Chip, but don't see him as a pro coach. With that said, I would've rather gone with Chip than Sherman or Childress.

I'm sure whatever happens, I'll be pissed. :lol

Childress indeed sucks, and while he's not much of an exciting choice, a team could do a lot worse than Sherman. I'm convinced the Chilly interviews (Indy interviewed him) are just to make whatever eventual hire look better.